The Cove

We just watched a heart-wrenching documentary exposing dolphin killing in Japan called "The Cove". Please watch this movie and learn more about it at: www.takepart.com/thecove. It's disturbing and sad, but has a powerful message that we think is important to spread. Chels and I saw many dolphins in Hawaii and they are so beautiful in their natural habitat! We hate to learn about the abuse and horror they're being subjected to in Japan, but it's important to educate ourselves to stop it. Here are some pictures of dolphins we saw while on our honeymoon-- please let us know what you think of the movie, and thanks for watching!

Blended Creations

We received two blenders as wedding gifts, both a regular standing blender and a smartstick immersion blender and they are awesome! We've been using the immersion blender since August and love it! Chels loves using it to chop veggies, especially onions so she doesn't cry. We use it for dips, whipping cream, chopping, and last night I made hummus for the first time. I think it was a success... Chels likes it, so that is a compliment :) A few weeks ago we were given the other blender for a wedding gift and have had fun making smoothies with it. Todd and I made frozen margaritas the other night after work and they were delicious! It was great because I have these fun margarita glasses we got to use, which makes them that much more authentic--well, maybe not "authentic" but delicious for the first time making frozen margaritas. I'm excited to see what else we can make with our new blenders--maybe soup will be next, we'll see!

Birthday Bowling

Last night Chels and I went to our friend Lindsay's surprise 30th birthday party and had a great time! Her partner Stacy and Lindsay's sisters planned the party at The Garage Billiards on Capitol Hill--and Lindsay was actually surprised, yay! Her family came into town for the event and it was really fun to see her reaction when she saw all of her friends and family there to celebrate her birthday. Here are some pictures:

Chelsea and the birthday girl

Stacy and Candace

Chelsea and Candace

Noal, Mandy, Alana, Nya, and Chels

Nya and Mandy

Happy Birthday, Lindsay!

The Best Ice Cream OF ALL TIME!!!

Yesterday Chelsea picked me up a pint of my favorite ice cream, Molly Moon's Salted Caramel, and it is the best ever! We discovered Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream last summer at Eat Local in Seattle and Candace has been addicted to the salted caramel flavor ever since. Today I found out we have TWO Molly Moon's ice cream shops in Seattle, TWO!!! I'M SO EXCITED! Check out the other delicious flavors on their website: www.mollymoonicecream.com. Eat local is also pretty cool--they make foods prepared with organic and sustainable ingredients, which they freeze to maintain the flavor & nutrients. And it's great because then you can make them at your home sweet home whenever you want! Check them out at: www.eatlocalonline.com.

Sunday Sunday Sunday

So yesterday was Sunday, for those of you who did not know it. Just a little reminder. Chelsea and I decided to go down to the park by our house and play some basketball. Needless to say, I was not as awesome as I thought I would be after not having played in about 7 years... However, Chels and I were both still able to pull out some semi-awesome skills like the tried-and-true right-handed layup and the corner of the key rebound shot. It's good to know that some things you can't forget! The free throw and 3-point shots are still needing some practice (well, for me at least: Sean made a 3-point shot)! Sean and Claire came down to join us, and here are a few of our better moments:

They came over for dinner and I tried a new recipe. A baked pasta with spinach, artichoke hearts, and mozzarella & parmesan cheeses, yum! We also had strawberries and cream for dessert, as I am now (since Friday) able to whip cream, yay! :) Sean, Claire, Chelsea, and I also played the board game "Ticket to Ride" which they received as a Christmas gift from Sean's parents. It was pretty fun! Not sure if it's my favorite over "Settlers of Catan" just yet, but it's worth checking out. Happy Daylight Savings!

Great Recipe

Here's an easy and delicious recipe for Curried Rice with Shrimp that we had for dinner last night!

Curried Rice with Shrimp: serves 4

hands-on time: 20 minutes

total time: 45 minutes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 cup white rice

1.5 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 cup fresh basil (I did not use this)

1) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 6-8 minutes.

2) Add the garlic and curry and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 2 minutes.

3) Add the rice, 2.5 cups of water, 1/2 teaspoon salt & 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

4) Season shrimp with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper and nestle them in the partially cooked rice. Cover and cook until the shrimp are opaque throughout, 4-5 minutes. Fold in the basil and serve.

Thanks Real Simple! This recipe is real simple and "real" delicious!

Home Sweet Home

Here are some pictures of the apartment Chelsea and I moved into in November 2009. Hopefully you will all get a chance to come visit, but for those of you in Minnesota, here's a little visual tour.

Walking through the front door takes you into our living room, or you can go up the stairs to the bedrooms. We'll start with the living room: we have a half bathroom just off this area, bordering the living and dining rooms.

You can see the dining room is tucked off to the left, with the bathroom and closet to the right.

From the dining room, the kitchen is just around the corner to the right. We also have a back door with a little cement patio area. Big enough for a BBQ, we'll see!

From the front door, you can go directly up the stairs instead of into the living room.

At the top of the stairs is the full bath, with the second bedroom/office off to the left. And from the second bedroom there is a short hallway leading to the master bedroom.

And that concludes the tour of our little home sweet home! Hope you enjoyed it! :)